Matthew Morris delivers a moving performance where memory, grief, humour and movement mingle in a richly textured, deeply human theatrical experience.
Reviews/Contemporary dance/Dance
Matthew Morris’s Until Falling Things Work, delivers a moving performance on memory, grief and joy
15 May 2026
- Reading time • 7 minutesDance
More like this
- Enter Coda delivers a striking double bill of control and abandon
- Gloria – A Triple Bill
- Dance dreams are made of this
Cover image: Matthew Morris in a solo performance at the Blue Room Theatre. Image by Logan Ringshaw.
This review was amended 20th May 2026 in response to a clarification from the production team about Alice Cummins’ role.
The Blue Room Theatre
14 May 2026
I still recall vividly my first experience watching “older” dancers perform. The year was 2000, the performance by Nederlands Dans Theater 3, a company for dancers over 42 (sadly no longer operating). I remember my delight in realising that, contrary to the received wisdom that dance is best served by younger bodies, decades of practice enable greater nuance, as though the years of movement are layered on and within the body.
In the years that have followed I’ve continued to be drawn to the riches offered by the older dancing body. So when I saw that Matthew Morris – a renowned local interdisciplinary performing artist with 40 years’ experience across a range of internationally-acclaimed dance and physical theatre companies – was not only performing a self-devised solo work, but one that explores the relationship between memory and movement, I was sold.
Together with celebrated creative consultant, dramaturg and co-devisor Alice Cummins, Morris delivers, with a work that dances between movement and words, between contemplation and exuberance, between laughter and loss, between storytelling and abstraction. Its title, Until Falling Things Work, encapsulates the way in which the work explores yearning, grief and loneliness but is also threaded with joy.
In his artist statement Morris refers to reconnecting with his writing practice, and the spoken score he has created for this work is inextricably linked with the choreography. His words are poetic, packed with metaphor and interspersed with pop music references that add a layer of levity and lightness to balance the work’s darker moments.
The surprise – for those of us who have only seen Morris in dance works – is the depth and warmth of his vocal delivery, a performance in its own right.
The guitar and cello score, composed by Josten Myburgh and performed by Jameson Feakes and Mary Rapp, could also be a standalone work, but like Morris’s words is beautifully interwoven with the choreography and text.
A journey of contemplation and exuberance. Image by Logan Ringshaw.
Until Falling Things Work unfolds as a series of shifts in mood and dynamic. It starts quietly, Morris’s faltering reflections on the idea of home echoed in jittering, juddering movement, accompanied by skipping strings.
A verbal nod to David Bowie signals playfulness and as the score becomes longer and more languid, so too does the movement. A chest slap, a body ripple and suddenly “it’s raining men”. Bathed in rosy light (by designer Jay Covich) against a cacophony of strings, Morris sheds his clothes with gleeful abandon.
Sudden silence indicates another shift; the light cools as Morris serenades his audience with a cheeky take on “I Wanna Be Loved by You”, before the mood changes again. Now visual artist/object maker Andrew Stumpfel’s multi-purpose chair becomes a focus. Its unforgiving corners reflect the sense of solitude that characterises Morris’s poignant reflection on a visit from his brother, who passed away this year, and to whom the work is dedicated.
The work’s finale sees Morris resplendent in a cloud of crimson tulle as he once again serenades the audience. Mic in hand, he is imbued with a cabaret-like charisma as he reclines at punters’ feet, takes their hands, stares deeply into their eyes. Collapsing dramatically to the ground, his feet comically articulate the words, “I’m looking for love.”
Morris resplendent in a cloud of crimson tulle. Image by Logan Ringshaw.
In her artist statement for Until Falling Things Work Cummins says, “dance is often spoken of as ephemeral but dance also lingers in the flesh and in memory.” In Morris’s performance we see the many movement memories etched into his body, and walking away from the performance, I could feel those memories lingering in mine.
Moving, exhilarating and packed with joy, Until Falling Things Work is a wonderful opportunity to spend 50 minutes with an artist at the top of his game. Its short season is sold out so get your name on the waitlist if you haven’t snaffled a ticket!
Until Falling Things Work continues at The Blue Room Theatre until 16 May 2026.
Like what you're reading? Support Seesaw.
Past Articles
Enter Coda delivers a striking double bill of control and abandon
LINK Dance Company’s Enter Coda pairs eerie precision with ecstatic release in a punchy double bill lighting up The Liberty Theatre.
Georgia Malone: an arts superhero
As Georgia Malone’s legacy is honoured with a new Performing Arts WA Award, her many colleagues and friends are reflecting on her immeasurable contribution to the arts sector, writes Nina Levy.
